We knew all about it, including its specifications as well as the US $2,999 ex. VAT price tag, but we did not know when it will be actually available. According to the report from Techpowerup.com, the new graphics card should hit retail on 29th of April and stick to the same price announced back at GTC 2014.

The end-user price tag will depend on the country tax and while US $2,999 sounded quite expensive, the sheer amount of compute performance coming from two 28nm GK110 GPUs will be be enough to attract professionals, scientists and a few wealthy gamers.

Fully enabled dual GK110 GPUs

In case you missed it back when it was announced, the Geforce GTX Titan Z features two fully enabled 28nm GK110 GPUs with 2880 CUDA cores, 240 TMUs and 48 ROPs per GPU. The GPUs are connected to 6GB of GDDR5 memory each via dual 384-bit memory interface. Back at GTC 2014, Jen-Husn Huang, described the GTX Titan Z as a "supercomputer in a PCI-Express form-factor".

While AMD had to use a bulky AIO water cooling solution in order to keep the two Hawaii-XT GPUs in check, Nvidia managed to stick with standard air cooler on its dual-GPU Titan Z graphics card.

Clash of titans

While AMD currently reigns supreme with it dual-GPU Radeon R9 295X2 graphics card, Nvidia's Titan Z is a different beast in a league of its own. Just after GTC 2014, we wrote that e-tail players, PC system integrators like Maingear are quite keen on getting their hands on Titan Z and believe that they can sell it without problems, even with a US $2999 price tag. Even AIB partners had no problem with the price as both the Titan Black and the original Titan were selling well at US $999.

Both the Radeon R9 295X2 and the Titan Z are niche products, but they surely have their market and we guess that there are many buyers willing to burn a lot of money in order to get the best possible UHD/4K gaming experience with all details dialed up to 11.

Nvidia’s GTX 780 Ti NDA expires at 3 pm and we should see the first reviews in a matter of hours. However, some partners and retailers decided to jump the gun.

For example, stuff-uk.net is already has MSI’s GTX-780TI-3GD5 in stock for £582. Zotac’s reference card is listed in several DACH shops with prices starting at €677 – but it’s not available just yet. The card was announced a few weeks back and there’s nothing new to report on the spec front. It is based on a GK110-425-B1 GPU, clocked at 875MHz (Boost 928MHz), with 3GB or GDDR5 on a 384-bit memory bus. The memory clock is 1750MHz.

It’s got 2880 cores, 240 texture units and 48 ROPs, up from 2304/192/48 on the original GTX 780. In terms of performance, it churns out 5040GFLOPS (Single), 210GFLOPS (Double). The “old” GTX 780 could manage 3977GFLOPS (Single), 165GFLOPS (Double). For a bit of perspective, here are the Titan numbers: 4500GFLOPS (Single), 1311GFLOPS (Double, 732MHz).

On paper it looks like a powerhouse and of course we are already playing with it on our test rig. Naturally we can’t share the results right now, but a preview should be coming shortly.

In theory it should give the R9 290X a run for its money, but then again it does end up a bit pricier - $699 is official MSRP, making it $150 more expensive than AMD’s flagship. We still don't understand what Nvidia plans to do with the Titan now. Early retirement sounds like a good idea.

We have heard from multiple independent sources that the upcoming Geforce GTX 780 Ti will end up faster than the Titan, and obviously significantly faster than original Geforce GTX 780 card.

The Radeon R9 290X is giving Nvidia’s Titan a run for its money, at least in its noisy Über mode, but apparently 780 Ti can put some distance between these cards. Since the GTX 780 currently sells for $649 in most US etail stores and in Europe it costs just over €500, we can only assume that GTX 780 TI performance will come at a high price, but with a Titan like cooler that we saw showcased at Nvidia’s Montreal The way it's meant to be played, the card could end up really quiet.

Let's not forget UK etail where GTX 780 sells for average £499.99 with VAT.

We are not sure if GTX 780 Ti beats the Titan in all benchmarks, but it will definitely be faster in most of them. It remains to be seen what happens to the Titan, currently priced at $999, as the GTX 780 Ti launch will render this pricey card obsolete and uncompetitive.

One can only assume that there might be a Titan price drop happening after the 780 TI launch. The other possibility is that the Titan will be discontinued, if the Ti ends up significantly cheaper to produce.

In the US Titan cards sell for $999 and up, in the German market you can buy a Titan for €800 and in the UK it’s £779.99 on sale, or £800+ on an average day. These cards make sense for people with 2560x1600 or higher resolution monitors and all settings cranked up to max.

The eagerly awaited Hawaii GPU got its official brand last month and now it’s finally official and shipping for $549. The big kahuna, the faster of two cards based on Hawaii is the Radeon R9 290X, while the Pro version will appear in a week or so.

The new Hawaii XT chip is the first significant "big core” from AMD since the launch or Radeon 7000 series in Q4 2011. It took a while before the Tahiti 28nm chip got a series successor that could step on Geforce GTX 780’s toes. Not only that, but in some cases the R9 290X it can even bring the fight to Nvidia’s pricey Geforce Titan.

The AMD Radeon R9 290X is a 28nm chip with 6.2 billion transistors and the engine clock goes up to 1GHz, the primitive rate is at 4 prim per clock, it has 2816 stream processors, churns out 5.6 Teraflops. It’s got 176 texture units, 64 ROP, a texture fill rate of up to 175 GT/s and up to 64Gpixels a second. It has a new 512-bit memory interface coupled with 4GB of GDDR5, ensuring a data rate up to 5 Gbps and 320GB/s data bandwidth.

If you look at the table below, this means that the chip is roughly twice as powerful as the R9 270X. Its main competitor is Nvidia’s GK110, which has 48 ROPs (12 less than Hawaii XT), 2880 shader processors, or 64 more than Hawaii, but it can process 196 texels in integer and FP16 precision while Hawaii can deal with 176 integers and 88 fp16.

AMD has a 512-bit memory bus while the GK110 has a 384-bit bus, but Nvidia has 7.1 billion transistors doe to its better precision capabilities. The Hawaii chip is 438 mm2, while the GK110 is 551 mm2, so it’s much bigger and costlier to produce. Specification wise you can see that these chips are practically evenly matched, but we will leave that to benchmarks.

The card has two dual-link DVI outs, one standard HDMI and standard DisplayPort out. Next generation 4K (4096x2160) and UHD (3840x2160) resolutions are supported. You can also use any combination of display connectors.

The Radeon R9 290X draws power via a 6-pin power connector and an 8-pin power connector.

AMD dropped dual-BIOS feature in the last generation, and you will not find it on Rx200 series cards, with the exception of the R9 290X. The VBIOS switch allows you to choose between “Quiet mode” And “Über mode”. The default BIOS position is going to run the card a bit quieter with some performance penalty, while BIOS position two will make the cooler run faster, increase the clock and card settings to maximum, but it will give you a few extra frames, accompanied with more noise. If you want to change from normal to Über mode you should shut down, adjust the switch, boot up and hit defaults in Catalyst Control Center.

Note that the card lacks a Crossffire connector. All the communication between chained cards is now handled via PCIe 3.0.

AMD has some new driver settings in Overdrive, but we will write more about this in the review. Now let’s check out some of the numbers we got after a few hours of testing.

You’ll probably notice the high GPU temperature first. It can go up to 95 degrees Celsius, but rest assured 95C is a perfectly safe temperature. There is no technical reason to reduce the target temperature below 95C. By running at 95C, AMD is both maximizing the performance and minimizing the acoustics of the product. This is achieved by increasing clocks/voltages and/or reducing the fan speed until the GPU runs at the temperature target. By having the GPU target at lower temperature, you sacrifice either performance or acoustics. However you can change fan speed at any time in Overdrive.

Here you can see the temperatures and settings in idle mode. When the card is in 3D mode, the fan’s target speed is 40% of max RPM. At this setting the fan is not very loud, you can hear it, but it’s not a distraction.

Our tests indicate that the card’s default Quiet BIOS setting reduces the GPU clock when the temperature hits 92C or 95C. After a few runs in Unigine Heaven, we saw the GPU clock drop to 865MHz.

Quiet BIOS: Readings during Unigine Heaven test after 2 minutes.

Quiet BIOS: Readings during Unigine Heaven test after 3 minutes.

Quiet BIOS: Readings during Unigine Heaven test after 15 minutes.

It is obvious that in demanding applications the algorithm drops the GPU clock to well below 1000MHz, which could result in slightly lower performance after an extended gaming session. With that in mind, we ran a few tests and moved on to Sleeping Dogs. However, the throttling didn’t have much of an effect on overall performance.

Even when it gets really hot, the R9 290X easily beats the GTX 780 and in Uber mode it even outpaces the Titan.

Uber mode accelerates the fan to 55% RPM, but then things get pretty loud even if you are used to plenty of noise.

So what makers Uber mode so different? Well , it forces the card to run at 1000MHz most of the time and the clock never drops below the 935MHz mark. In quiet mode it spends most of its time at or around 865MHz.

3DMark Extreme tells a different story. Even with the quiet BIOS, the card delivers peak performance. It does not overheat and the Uber BIOS didn’t yield any extra performance.

The R9 290X consumes a bit more power than the GTX Titan. However, given the performance and very attractive price, we really can’t hold this against it.

We got the $549 price right and it turns out that the Battlefield 4 edition might be just a tad more expensive. Our sources claim that in the US the Radeon R9 290X Battlefield 4 Edition sells for $30 more or $579.

Since the game is coming out next Wednesday, October 30, we would expect these pre-orders to start shipping shortly. The bundle is limited we never got the right number of bundles but with small premium on top of the non-bundle card, but the price is right and it might make sense to buy the more expensive one and get the game that so many gamers want.

AMD is definitely putting a lot of heat on Nvidia and its AIBs, as the 290X performs really well and it is priced to hurt Geforce GTX 780 sales. In Uber mode can even give the Titan a run for its money, and since the Titan still costs $999, we are talking about a lot of money.

Nvidia will soon fire back with the Geforce GTX 780 Ti, a card that is meant to mess with the Radeon 290X performance and it could end up on par with the 290X, but pricing remains a problem for Nvidia. We would not be surprised if the Geforce GTX 780 gets a price cut to make it more competitive, but only if bundles don’t do their job.

Ideally, Nvidia would like to take on the R9 290X with the GTX 780 Ti, while the older GTX 780 should battle the R9 290, but to do that Nvidia would have to sacrifice a lot, killing its margins in the process.

As for the $999 Titan, we have no idea what Nvidia plans to do. It would have to get a massive price cut to remain competitive and that might not be an option for Nvidia.

]]>fudo [AT] fudzilla [DOT] com (Fuad Abazovic)GraphicsThu, 24 Oct 2013 10:42:53 +0200R9 290X is official and off to a good starthttp://fudzilla.com/news/graphics/32925-r9-290x-is-official-and-off-to-a-good-start
http://fudzilla.com/news/graphics/32925-r9-290x-is-official-and-off-to-a-good-start

Positive reviews, a few foibles

AMD is back in the high-end game. As of last night, the R9 290X is official and partners have already announced more than a dozen SKUs.

XFX, Sapphire, Powercolor, Asus, MSI, HIS, VTX3D and Club3D have all launched their cards, but the first batch doesn’t feature custom cards. There are a few OC cards with a tiny overlock, Powercolor and VTX3D have a couple of cards clocked at 1030MHz, but that’s about it. However, most AIBs have BF4 editions on sale as well, but other than that there are no surprises – custom cards are coming later. The Pro version isn’t out yet and it should launch next week.

We already talked about the specs and the $549 price, which is now official, so there’s really no need to talk about the 2,816 stream processors, 512-bit memory bus or Mantle – and we’ve got better things to do anyway.

The first reviews are up and they are overwhelmingly positive. Of course, the card isn’t perfect. Although it manages to beat the GTX 780 without breaking a sweat, it certainly appears to be sweating in Uber mode. Like we said, the card is very hot and reviewers were unimpressed by the stock cooler, which gets painfully loud in Uber mode. We can't wait to see what sort of coolers AIBs will come up with - with an unimpressive stock cooler there's plenty of room for custom versions.

Then again, in Uber it gets dangerously close to the Titan in some tests and in some it downright beats it, yet it costs half as much as a Titan. This is AMD’s trump card. In terms of price/performance Nvidia’s GTX 780 doesn’t even come close, let alone the Titan. What’s more, the Pro version could put even more pressure on Nvidia, as its performance shouldn’t be far behind the 290X.

This is what we were expecting all along and plenty of leaks over the last couple of weeks indicated that Hawaii would easily beat the GTX 780 and practically tie with the Titan in Uber mode. However, AMD did a much better job keeping the final price under wraps.

We were expecting a bit more. Early leaks pointed to $699, although we suspected AMD was feeding misinformation and keeping Nvidia in the dark. We were right, sort of – we expected it to land at $599, with the R290 priced at $449. In the end AMD surprised us with the $549 price tag and it also left us wondering what the R290 would sell for? It might end up at $449, but if AMD chooses to price it at $399, it would be a killer deal, although we doubt it can go so low.

Now it’s Nvidia’s turn. Since Nvidia was kept in the dark like the rest of us, there were no GTX 780 prices, but now it’s abundantly clear that it has to do something moving into the holiday season. Bottom line – the R9 290X is cheaper and faster than the GTX 780 and Nvidia can’t afford to keep its prices at current levels.

Since the Hawaii event we have been hearing that $699 might be the price of the new Radeon R9 290X card when it launches, but as it has happened before this might be a place holder and the card might end up with a new tweaked price. Multiple sources told us $699 is indeed the price, but like we said this could change.

The launch price is still a closely guarded secret and from what we hear AMD is keeping it under wraps until the cards go on sale. A few people were informed that $699 to $729 is what the shops should charge for preorders, but the price can go down to $599 at launch date.

However, if $699 sounds a bit steep, there’s still hope that the card could end up significantly cheaper. For example, we’re seeing Sapphire’s reference card listed for $579 in Canada, $555, $616 and $608 in three US shops. We couldn’t find any listings in Europe, at least not yet. We have yet to see any R9 290 listings and we reckon the Pro could be a great seller, provided it is priced right.

The big question about the card’s performance against Nvidia’s Geforce Titan remains. However, Titan sells for $999, making the Radeon R9 290X much more attractive, provided the leaked benchmarks were legit.

Nvidia has a gaming event in Montreal mid next week and all eyes will be pointed there. Some punters even expect a new Titan version to show up at this event. We believe that Nvidia's The way it’s meant to be played team will getter a few top gaming names including people behind Assassins creed and talk and show some cool 4K demos.

The Gainward GTX 780 is now available priced at about US $649/€649, but we're hoping it will be available for a bit less, since we already saw some listings much closer to $/€600.

We received the sample just a few hours ago, so we don't have many results to share with you, but at least we have some first impressions. Gainward does not have an in-house designed cooler or PCB just yet, so we are looking at a reference Nvidia design.

This means that the GPU base clock is set at 863MHz and the Boost clock is 902MHz. The memory clock is 1502MHz (effective 6008MHz) and it features a 384-bit memory interface. Detailed information is provided by the GPU-Z screenschot below. The GTX 780 is based on the 28nm GK110 GPU which features 2304 CUDA cores. The card is equipped with 3GB of GDDR5 memory. As is the norm in this performance range, the GTX 780 needs 8+6-pin PCI-Express power connectors and it has a 250W TDP.

The reference cooler looks great and in fact it is the same one designed by Nvidia for the GTX Titan graphics card. We really like the looks and the performance is good, too. We also like the fact that the card remained silent through the test run. Temperature read-outs can be seen on the following screenshots.

Idle

Load

The Gainward GTX 780 has two dual-link DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs.

In the Crysis 3 test the GTX 780 scores 36.6 FPS at 1920x1080 and 21.6 FPS at 2560x1600, in both cases with in-game Very High settings. By comparison, the GTX 680 scores 28.1 FPS and 16.2 FPS respectively. This is an improvement of 30 percent at 1920x1080 and 33% FPS at the higher 2560x1600 resolution. Judging by our initial tests, peformance is exceptional, but despite that we believe the GTX 780 should have been priced at $/€ 600. In any case, it is an impressive piece of hardware and we're looking ahead to a busy weekend of testing, tweaking and overclocking, so stay tuned for more.

We got news from multiple sources that the Geforce GTX 780, based on GK110 Titan chip, is coming on the May 23rd. Nvidia is launching reference clocked cards and they should be available from day one, but most overclocked cards will show their face a few weeks later.

There will be overclocked cards, but from what we understand the Geforce GTX 780 is using a Titan cooler and most people will continue using it as it’s a high quality design. Some vendors might dare to use their custom cooling solutions as there are some available in the market and even water cooled cards might be in the works.

Reference cards should sell for around 500 euro, while overclocked cards will be closer to the 600 euro mark, but we expect some deviations depending on the market and the specific vendors. These prices are just a rough range of what Nvidia expects them to sell for.

We have confirmed that there will be overclocked Geforce GTX 770 and 780 cards and that manufactures are preparing them as we speak.

Since in reality this is just a rebrand of GTX 770 and 680 cards, it was not hard to imagine that this would come about. The 780 is based on Titan GK110 and is a new card, not simply a renamed 600-series part. One can look at it as a slightly de-clocked and more reasonably priced Titan under GTX 780 brand.

The overclocked cards will come shortly after the plain retail version with Nvidia cooler ships out in order to replace the GTX 680 and 670. The GTX 780 ends up significantly faster than the 680 due to its new GK110 chip, while the 770 should end up five to seven percent more expensive than current GTX 680. We expect to see first of these cards in the second half of June, but we expect to see announcements around Computex, in case Nvidia gives them a PR blessing.

Overclocked cards will gain a nice performance boost, but nothing spectacular as you might imagine as even the 780 card based on the Titan GK110 core ends up just slightly faster than 680. At this time we don’t have an exact number. We are hearing that custom coolers and custom frequencies should appear on these cards but we don’t have any specifics yet.